It’s been a long time coming, but now New Zealand’s Giantess have premiered their debut album, Big Woman, ahead of its official release this week.
For a number of music fans out there, the team behind Giantess is not a new one, with Kiki Van Newtown and Jason Erskine previously being found as part of the critically-acclaimed witch-rock outfit HEX.
Releasing just two records in their far-too short career, HEX performed across Australia and New Zealand frequently, ultimately announcing their dissolution a few years ago.
Thankfully, some light could be found at the end of this tunnel, with Giantess rising from the former group’s ashes, like some sort of musical phoenix.
Check out ‘The News’ by Giantess:
Describing their music as being “heart-songs steeped in floods and fires”, Giantess have been giving fans a taste of what to expect for some time now, with first single ‘The News’ coming our way back in February. Featuring Erskine’s production and Lauren Ellis on percussion, the neo-folk tune was a perfect taster of what was to come for this exceptional outfit.
Having released ‘Gone, Gone Golden’ as a follow-up, Giantess are officially set to release their debut album, Big Woman, on Thursday, May 14th, with this masterful collection of dark indie pop, pounding rhythms, and heavy riffs helping provide a musical escape the likes of which has not been seen before.
Ahead of its release this week, Giantess have premiered the record with a full stream via Tone Deaf today, offering readers the chance to hear Big Woman before anyone else.
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Check out ‘Gone, Gone Golden’ by Giantess:
“Big Woman is a breakup album, an endeavour into deep feeling, and a paean to growing up in a world that only wants you to shrink,” Giantess explain. “Written and recorded over two gruelling years, Big Woman charts the course of grief through to vision, braiding together feminine rage, ecology, ethics, and hope.
“Conceptually the album came together along with a short set of prose, accompanied by graphic art by long time friend Mica Still. This merging of memories from my childhood with dense feelings of now was a pretty clinical examination of how our pasts are always reflected in our responses, and how we can choose what to remove and what to cultivate.
“Big Woman was my demands for a revolution – a total restructuring of systems of power both personally and globally,” they continue. “It was also a claim to myself and an affirmation of my experiences, a place to store my memories.
“Lyrically the songs rend together deadbeat dads, a Christchurch flood, a sad motel in Upper Hutt, airport check-ins, nuclear annihilation and the inherent cruelty of rich people, into an announcement that we deserve better. The album is like the Tower – total destruction but with the promise of new beginnings.”
A mesmerising record that well and truly offers something for everyone with switching genres and sounds between tracks, Big Woman is an example of what is created by musicians who are true masters of their craft.
Giantess’ Big Woman is officially out on Thursday, May 14th. Check out a full stream of the record before its offical release this week.
Stream Giantess’ Big Woman:
Giantess – Big Woman Tracklist:
1. ‘The News’
2. ‘Good Looking Girls’
3. ‘Home’
4. ‘Self Taught Mage’
5. ‘The Flood’
6. ‘Sewn Seed’
7. ‘Gone Gone Golden’
8. ‘Red Sky (We Are Waiting)’
9. ‘The Fire’
